CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Tuesday granted an interim stay of framing of charges against Karti P Chidambaram and his wife Srinidhi till January 28, by a special court in income-tax proceedings initiated against them in a tax evasion case relating to non-disclosure of Rs 7.73 crore income.
Justice M Sundar in his interim order said “Considering the fact that the petitioners have diligently approached the court on August 6, 2019, itself, this court is convinced that it would be desirable to put on hold the proceedings before the special court till the next date of hearing on January 27.”
Counsel for Chidambaram argued whether the special court was the right forum to hear the case when it was earlier heard by Economic Offences Wing court at Egmore. However, the judge ordered both counsel to file their detailed submissions on January 27. Until then there will be no framing of charges against the couple.
The case is that Karti Chidambaram allegedly received Rs 6.38 crore in cash while his wife received Rs 1.35 crore in the sale of a piece of land near Muttukadu. It was alleged that Karti Chidambaram’s mother Nalini Chidambaram received payment through cheque. It is said that while Nalini Chidambaram had declared this transaction, Karti and his wife failed to disclose the cash transactions in their IT returns for 2015-16.